If you bought your home using the government Help to Buy equity loan, you may be thinking about repaying it. Perhaps the interest charges have started to bite, your fixed rate is coming to an end, or you simply want to own your home outright without a government stake in it. Whatever your reason, the process is more straightforward than many people expect - but it does involve a specific sequence of steps, and getting them in the right order matters.

This guide walks you through the full process from start to finish.

Understand What You Actually Owe

The first thing to get clear on is how your repayment figure is calculated. The Help to Buy equity loan does not work like a standard loan where you repay a fixed amount. Instead, you borrowed a percentage of your property's value - typically 20% - and you repay that same percentage of whatever your home is worth at the time of repayment.

So if you bought a £200,000 home and borrowed 20% (£40,000), but your home is now worth £260,000, your repayment figure would be 20% of £260,000 - which is £52,000. Property values in many areas have risen considerably since the scheme ran between 2013 and 2022, so it is worth understanding this calculation before you do anything else.

Check Whether You Are Past Year Five

The Help to Buy equity loan was interest-free for the first five years after completion. From year six onwards, an annual management fee of 1.75% of the loan value is charged, and this increases every year in line with the Retail Price Index plus 1%.

If you are still within your first five years, you have more flexibility about timing. If you are past year five, the charges are already running and will continue to increase - which strengthens the case for acting sooner rather than later.

Instruct a RICS-Registered Surveyor

Before Homes England will agree to release the equity loan, they require a formal valuation of your property carried out by a RICS-registered surveyor. This is not the same as a mortgage valuation - it must be an independent RICS Red Book valuation, and it must be instructed by you rather than your lender.

The valuation report is typically valid for three months, so it is important not to commission it too early in the process. You will pay for this yourself - costs vary but are typically in the range of £300 to £500 depending on your property and location.

Contact Homes England to Request a Redemption Statement

Once you have your valuation, you can contact Homes England - or their appointed agent, Target HCA - to request a redemption statement. This sets out the exact amount required to repay your equity loan in full, calculated using your RICS valuation figure.

You will need to provide your property address, your Help to Buy reference number, and a copy of your RICS valuation report. Target HCA will then issue a formal redemption statement confirming the repayment figure.

Speak to a Mortgage Broker

Unless you have the funds to repay the equity loan from savings, you will need to borrow the money through a remortgage. This means increasing your mortgage borrowing to cover the redemption figure, either by remortgaging with your current lender or switching to a new one.

This is the stage where getting proper advice really matters. Not all lenders accept Help to Buy remortgage cases, and the criteria around them can be specific. A whole-of-market broker can identify which lenders will consider your application, assess whether the numbers work for your circumstances, and find the most competitive rate available across the market.

Your broker will assess your income, the current value of your property, your existing mortgage balance, and the redemption figure to work out how much you need to borrow in total and which lenders are the best fit.

Submit Your Remortgage Application

Once you have agreed on the right deal with your broker, the remortgage application goes in. The lender will carry out their own valuation of your property at this stage - this is separate from the RICS valuation you commissioned and is arranged by the lender, usually at no cost to you.

Your broker will manage the application and keep things moving. Depending on the lender, a remortgage typically takes four to eight weeks from application to offer.

Instruct a Solicitor

You will need a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to handle the legal side of the remortgage and the Help to Buy redemption. This is not optional - Homes England require a solicitor to be involved in the process to manage the release of their charge on your property.

Your solicitor will liaise with both your new lender and with Target HCA to coordinate the repayment. They will receive the mortgage funds, pay off your existing mortgage, pay the redemption amount to Homes England, and register the removal of the Help to Buy charge at the Land Registry.

Exchange and Complete

Once your mortgage offer is in place and your solicitor has everything they need, a completion date is agreed. On that date, the funds are transferred and your Help to Buy equity loan is redeemed in full. Homes England's charge is removed from your property title, and you own your home outright - or with just your standard mortgage in place.

Your solicitor will confirm completion and register the changes with the Land Registry.

A Note on Timing

The RICS valuation is valid for three months, and the redemption statement issued by Target HCA is also time-limited. It is important to keep the process moving once you have started. If either expires before completion, you may need to start those steps again, which adds cost and delay. A good broker will keep an eye on these timelines and flag any issues early.

How Aspect Mortgages Can Help

We deal with Help to Buy remortgage cases regularly, including for homeowners across Buckshaw Village and the wider Chorley and Preston area. We know the lenders who handle these cases well, the valuation process involved, and the steps needed to bring everything together smoothly.

Our advice fee for a remortgage is £495. If a rate switch with your current lender turns out to be the better option at this stage, we handle that completely free of charge.

If you are thinking about buying out your Help to Buy loan and want to understand where you stand, get in touch for a no-obligation conversation.